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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. land — to come down
  9. game — wild animals
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. kid — child
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. board — a committee
  14. file — a document
  15. kid — to tease
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. file — a tool
  19. game — a match
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. board — to get on
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com